Back scrubbers



C. E. WILDING BACK SCRUBBERS April 3, 1956 Filed Jan. 11, 1954 INVENTOR. CHARLES E. WILDING W lli/l ATTORNEY United States Patent BACK SCRUBBERS Charles E. Wilding, Philadelphia, Pa. Application January 11, 1954, Serial No. 403,254 1 Claim. (Cl. -231) The object of the invention is to provide improvements in personal cleaning devices and particularly in articles of this general class which are used by a person to clean his back, and to stimulate circulation in areas of the dermis that are not usually readily accessible.

Another object is to provide a device of this character, which instead of the customary bristles of abrush, provides for the use of a wash cloth or the like, such as is normally used in cleaning other parts of the body, since cleansing media of this nature, especially when in the form of so-called Turkish towelling, is far more adaptable to and harmonious in association with the texture of the skin, than is the ordinary bristle brush.

A further object is to provide in such a device the combination of a head having a convex surface, with a removable fibrous element such as Turkish towelling sup ported by and across the same, and an elastic band normally surrounding the periphery of said head and detachably securing said fibrous element thereon, together with a suitable elongated handle comprising an integral extension of and from the back of said head.

Still another object is to provide in a device of this character a head of the type described, in combination with an elastic band that in cross section might be referred to as being of a shallow lopsided U-shape, in that it has a relatively flat central portion to surround the periphery of said head and function to secure the towelling across said convex surface, a relatively deep slightly diagonally extending flange upon one edge of said band operative to limit the movement of said band to its operative position as it is forced transversely across said peripheral surface, and a relatively shorter flange upon its opposite edge to prevent the accidental separation of said band from said surface and said towelling.

With these broad objects in view, the invention comprises details of construction, which are hereinafter fully brought out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation partially in cross section of a device comprising one embodiment of the invention with the towel-supporting head shown in cross section; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary portion of a modified form of the head portion of the device shown in section, and the handle is a detachable member.

Referring to-the drawings, the head of the device cornprises a circular body portion 1, having essentially an outer spherical, convex surface 2. From the central portion of the rear surface of said head there extends the curved portion 3 of an elongated handle 4, which preferably extends in a direction substantially, or at least generally, parallel with the plane of said head, and terminates in a manually engageable end portion 5, provided with two or more longitudinally extending grooves (or ridges) 6, for the purpose of aiding the user to grasp it and thus prevent it from rotating within the grasp of ones hand when wet and possibly soapy.

The periphery of said head is characterized by a substantially cylindrical flange 7, about which normally extends a radially elastic band 8, having a relatively deeper or longer flange 9 upon its forward edge portion operative 0 limit the movement of said band in one direction transversely of said head, and with a relatively shallower or shorter flange 10 upon its opposite edge, operative to prevent the accidental separation of said band from said head, and resulting release of the disk of towelling 11 from the outer convex surface of said head, said convex surface 2 connecting with the outer surface of said flange through an annular groove or recess 12.

In using this device, the band is initially separate from the head. A disk of towelling of any desired configuration is laid across the convex outer surface of said head, and one half of said band positioned about a corresponding portion of the periphery of said head to hold the adjacent portions of said disk in position, while the other half of said band is then pressed downwardly around said disk and its periphery, so as to thereby stretch said towelling across said surface, and then secure said band against accidental slippage and separation from said head by the shallower flange snapping around the farther or lower edge of said head, while the flange 9 of said band is seated in the groove 12, so as to thereby not extend forwardly beyond the spherical plane 2 of said head.

Referring to Fig. 3, a slightly modified form of the device is shown as comprising a head 13 having a peripheral flange 14, the radially outer surface of which is interrupted transversely by an abrupt shoulder 15, having a plane surface that is preferably at right angles to the cylindrical outer surface of said flange. The head portion 13 is connected to said flange 14 through the medium of a definitely angular portion 16, that provides an annular recess 17 in which the deeper flange 18 of a radially elastic band 19 is normally seated, together with the adjacent portions of the towelling 20, a shallower flange 21 upon the opposite edge of said band operating to prevent the accidental displacement of said band and the removal of said towelling from said head, while the deeper flange 18 is situated in a withdrawn position at least within the spherical plane of the outer surface of said head, so as to thereby offer no protrusion beyond the surface of the towelling to otherwise scratch the skin of the user. This modification is further characterized by a handle 22, that may be detachably secured as by a bolt 23 or the like to a central boss 24, extending axially from the rear surface of said head, to facilitate manufacture, storage and shipment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A back scrubber, comprising a circular head having a convex outer surface, a disk of towelling extending across and supported by said surface, said head having a substantially cylindrical rearwardly extending peripheral surface, an annular groove of generally angular cross section separating said convex surface from. said peripheral surface, and an elastic annular ring having integral flanges of different radial extent at its axially opposite edges and securing said towelling around said peripheral surface, the forward and wider of said ring flanges nesting within the transverse limits of said groove, so that its outer surface comprises a substantially radially outward continuation of said convex surface, and the rearward or narrower of said ring flanges extending around the opposite edge of said peripheral surface, to prevent accidental separation of said ring and said towelling from said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,100,477 Fritz Nov. 30, 1937 2,384,178 Kincaid Sept. 4, 1945 2,414,321 Miller Jan. 14, 1947 2,456,782 Hartman Dec. 21, 1948 2,680,870 Jones June 15, 1954 

